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The Dogs

To raise sheep in this manner and have working dogs alongside to assist is a privileged life. We utilize stock dogs and guardian dogs to help us with management of a larger flock and with keeping sheep safe in this coyote riddled prairie land.

Stock Dogs

Both Australian Kelpies and Border Collies are my daily sidekicks as I mill about the place. It was a border collie picked out from an animal shelter that started me on the path with sheep and resulted in us turning a worn out crop farm into a grass based sheep operation. The Australian Kelpie is a working dog like no other as their grasp of tasks is a huge asset to managing large flocks and doing regular farm work.

Guardian Dogs

This life has afforded us a respectable journey into livestock guardian dogs. Little did we know how much these working dogs would sway our views on dogs and their roles.

Establishing a balanced pack of livestock guardian dogs who work together cohesively is a feat. Keeping that balance is a continual work in progress.

The various breeds of dogs on our place include: Akbash x Great Pyrenees, Great Pyrenees, Maremma, Anatolian Shepherd and Maremma x Anatolian Shepherd. We have found there isn't as much breed specificity when it comes to which dogs are better but that individual dogs matter more. Breed is a starting place but the workload , the terrain and the sheep all play an important role in determining what type of dog will suit.